[surfar]

The last "much better" in my book was from K-7 to K-5, 8 years ago.

Ok,well i havent owned either but i did own a Samsung NX10 which from memory had the K-7 sensor.

What i find funny is that many have said it was a dog(k-7) but it rates at 8.5 amongst the users and the last 6 reviewers rate it 9/10 and 7th last reviewer gave it a 10.Can those 7 all be wrong?

I agree that they managed to tweak out some more and hopefully they'll do that everywhere. But we were discussing hardware (pre-tweaking) strictly

Yes, my experience with Samsung system is
NX10
NX1000x2
NX300
NX30
NX500

14.6/20/28mp BSI...as time and development went on, things improved.

IF,the rumour is correct?...I'm sure Pentaxians will be happy.

[normhead]

If it's true it's about time. Sony has been leveraging their position as a sensor maker into market share by making their processors available to themselves first. Such behaviour is extremely anti-competitive. If Pentax follows Nikon to a third party processor maker, Sony loses. As they lose market share they will also lose R&D money. We could be seeing the end of the line for Sony's run in the camera industry. Or it could all be nonsense, none of us know.

[RonHendriks1966]

This has no ground at all!!!

Samsung has no presence at the upcoming photokina.

[Mistral75]

If Pentax follows Nikon to a third party processor maker

The sensor in Nikon D850 (IMX309AQJ) is manufactured by Sony and the one in Nikon Z7 probably too.

Nikon D850 sensor confirmed as Sony-made: Digital Photography Review

The Nikon D850's Sensor is Made by Sony: Report

[Mistral75]

(...)

Samsung has no presence at the upcoming photokina.

Nor does Socionext, yet...

[normhead]

The sensor in Nikon D850 (IMX309AQJ) is manufactured by Sony and the one in Nikon Z7 probably too.

Nikon D850 sensor confirmed as Sony-made: Digital Photography Review

The Nikon D850's Sensor is Made by Sony: Report

Doesn't matter, losing 3-5% market share would cost Sony. As it should.

[Bophoto]

This has no ground at all!!!

Samsung has no presence at the upcoming photokina.

Why would Samsung be on Photokina to introduce sensors?

But do Samsung really want to produce sensors in small editions when they stopped camera production and laptop sales in Europe?

[reh321]

I hope this will be for the better. I hate to see the K-3II successor with lots of hardware improvement and only to have a not so good image quality. I hope the image quality of this sensor will be much better than what the KP gives. If it does then that is something that other brands have to recon with.

This sounds ambitious to me - the KP hasn't been around that long. Most people are asking for KP IQ + K-3 case + K-3 burst characteristics. I keep saying that a camera like that would be viewed the same way the K-1ii was ..... as a minor update; you're the first one I can remember who has honestly wanted much more.

[biz-engineer]

Doesn't matter, login 3-5% market share would cost Sony. As it should.

No because those sensors are dedicated to cameras, there are no other applications. The profit margin in absolute being a lot bigger from cameras and lenses sold, Sony get more overall profit from having the exclusivity first, and grab some extra money from other camera players later. Canon don't even bother opening up their sensors to the rest of the camera industry sector. The profit margin for a full frame camera sensor amounts 50 to 100 USD or so, while the net profit for a full frame camera ranges from 500 to 1500 USD approximately, and since there is exactly one sensor unit fitted in each camera unit, it is more profitable to sell as many cameras as possible and sell sensors as a secondary business. For every sensor that is leading edge, Sony have interest to have exclusivity of that sensor until they are about to have the next leading edge sensor available. What Pentax and Nikon should be doing is focusing on camera design itself, which someone is the case because so far Sony mirrorless is still a step behind others in terms of ergonomics, use interface and weather sealing. If Samsung comes up with sensors better/cheaper than Sony sensors, that will offset how long Sony will keep sensor exclusivity.

[normhead]

Why would Samsung be on Photokina to introduce sensors?

But do Samsung really want to produce sensors in small editions when they stopped camera production and laptop sales in Europe?

It's all untestable theory at the moment. Ricoh bought Pentax when they already had a camera division. Samsung has tremendous digital presence based on their Televisions and monitors. If they've developed some industry leading tech on par with what others have done, who are they going to sell too besides Pentax? Nikon is already seriously suffering because they exist on the crumbs Sony throws them. The market is ripe for a new player. Samsung, without a serious APS-c player would be exactly the type of company to chose Pentax to get their foot in the door.

And if Pentax could get superior tech and could actually get new tech out before Sony does, that's the only way they gain market share. Sony's "Nikon gets new tech a year after Sony's camera division does and Pentax gets it a year after Nikon does" model is really bad for Pentax. I'm sure Pentax is squirming to get out from under Sony's thumb.

[CarlJF]

This has no ground at all!!!

Samsung has no presence at the upcoming photokina.

Why would they be there if they only plan to supply parts to other camera maker ? It doesn't make sense to be at photokina if you don't have photography gear to show as a product available to consumer...

[surfar]

Samsung..the next sensor source? - PentaxForums.com

Seems like theres been speculation in the past that some people overlooked.Ha Ha.

[reh321]

But do Samsung really want to produce sensors in small editions when they stopped camera production and laptop sales in Europe?

This is all just a discussion. We don't know anything specific here.

We do know that Samsung seems to have exited the camera business - but that was a separate line, which required a separate infrastructure - you don't sell cameras or computers through the same channels that you sell TVs or phones, nor do you sell the two of them through the same channel. "B2B" is a completely different thing - they just run a different mask through the semiconductor plant and then ship the output ,,,,, no marketing or distribution effort is involved. Especially if they already have the mask "lying around", it would enable them to use any idle time in the semi-conductor plant. I have already commented that the NX500 design did better on DxOMark tests than the K-3ii did .... add a few Pentax tweaks and this could be the improvement users are looking for here {if it had an EVF, I might consider the NX500}

Pentax K-3 II vs Samsung NX500

[surfar]

Now, the rumour involves Fuji as well and doesnt mention Panasonic.

So who is making the FF panasonic sensor?Its been stated its NOT $$$ony.

Who made the XT-3 sensor,the rumours point to Samsung.

Late last year Samsung publicly stated they wanted a slice of the sensor pie, all this smoke,i think theres a fire!

[CarlJF]

But do Samsung really want to produce sensors in small editions when they stopped camera production and laptop sales in Europe?

This is THE big question behind this rumor... Nevertheless, selling parts to another manufacturer on a B2B basis is much less risky and troublesome than trying to sell electronic goods to consumer. For sensors and ISP, Samsung only has to agree with Pentax on a fair deal and deliver the parts at the agreed price and specifications. They don't have to deal with marketing, inventory, distribution... If the end products don't sell, it's not their problem since they already have been paid for their parts.